The Serpent
|backstory = Jafar *Amara |airdate = November 7, 2013 |writer = Jan Nash |director = Ralph Hemecker |previous = Forget Me Not |next = Heart of Stone}} "The Serpent" is the fourth episode of ABC's Once Upon a Time in Wonderland. It was written by Jan Nash and directed by Ralph Hemecker. It premiered on November 7, 2013. Synopsis When the Knave’s life is in danger, Alice has to make the tough decision on whether to use one of her three precious wishes and what that would mean for her and Cyrus. Her new friendship with Lizard reveals some of the Knave's backstory and Cyrus plots to escape. Meanwhile, Jafar’s plan to kill the Knave puts the Red Queen in a difficult position as she grapples with her feelings for him and her desire to get what she wants. In flashback, we explore Jafar's origins and find out what he truly wants from Cyrus. Recap Deleted Scenes A scene or segment with Jafar's Servant was deleted from the episode. However, the actor is still listed in the episode's press release. Cast Starring *Sophie Lowe as Alice *Michael Socha as Knave of Hearts *Peter Gadiot as Cyrus *Emma Rigby as the Red Queen *Naveen Andrews as Jafar *John Lithgow Guest Starring *Brian George as Old Prisoner *Anthony Keyvan as Young Jafar *Lauren McKnight as Lizard *Zuleikha Robinson as Amara *Danny Wattley as Jafar's Servant Co-Starring *Forbes Angus as Villager *Kevin Blatch as Executioner *Christian Bower as Drunken Guard *Ben Cotton as Tweedle #2 *Cedric De Souza as Akil *Matty Finochio as Tweedle #1 *Peter Hall as Peasant *Haroon Khan as Blacksmith *Marco Soriano as Gerard *Hugo Steele as Orang *Alicia Thorgrimmsson as Citizen Trivia |-|Production Notes= Title *The title card features a serpent.File:W104Title.png Production Notes *Cedric De Souza, who plays Akil, also plays the Sultan in the Once Upon a Time episodes "Street Rats" and "A Wondrous Place". *The establishing shot of AgrabahFile:W104Agrabah2.png is stock footage from "Trust Me".File:W102Agrabah.png *When the Red Queen instructs Tweedledee and Tweedledum to leave, Tweedledum and Jafar share a look;File:W104Look.png a subtle clue to their partnership. *During Jafar's visit to the Wonderland castle in "Trust Me", the vase of roses sitting in the Red Queen's throne room is full.File:W102AdmiringRoses.png By the time the Red Queen imprisons Will Scarlet in this episode, the roses have dwindled in size.File:W104WasHelpingAlice.png |-|Episode Connections= Event Chronology *The Agrabah flashbacks take place after "Bad Blood", and before "Trust Me" and the Once Upon a Time episode "Street Rats". *The Wonderland events occur after "Forget Me Not" and before "Heart of Stone". Episode Connections *The circumstances surrounding Jafar's hatred towards his father are shown in "Bad Blood". *The Collectors are after Will due to the events in "Forget Me Not". *Will's history with the Red Queen is briefly touched upon in "Forget Me Not" and further explored in "Heart of Stone" and "Heart of the Matter". *The events surrounding Will's return to Wonderland are explored in "Down the Rabbit Hole". *The real reason why Amara is after the genie bottles is revealed in "Dirty Little Secrets" and further elaborated in "To Catch a Thief". *The story behind the genie bottles in Jafar's possession is shown in "Dirty Little Secrets". *After escaping from the Wonderland castle, Alice tells Will that "a simple thank you would suffice." Robin Hood says the same thing to the Evil Queen in "New York City Serenade", "A Curious Thing" and "Operation Mongoose Part 1". *Cyrus told Alice about Jafar in "Trust Me". *Will is freed from the stone in "Heart of Stone". *The Red Queen references Alice's first visit to Wonderland. She returns from her visit in "Down the Rabbit Hole". *Amara is transformed back into a human in "To Catch a Thief". |-|Cultural References= Disney *After finding out the Red Queen has the Knave of Hearts locked up in her castle, Jafar tells her to give him a public execution "so everyone will see the price for helping Alice in Wonderland." The line is an obvious reference to Disney's Alice in Wonderland and the story Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. ** Fairytales and Folklore *This episode is a rendition of the "Aladdin" story, focusing on the appearance of the sorcerer; and the Alice's Adventures in Wonderland story, focusing on Alice's adventures in Wonderland. **Also included is the genie and the sultan from the "Aladdin" story story and the Lizard, the Knave of Hearts and the executioner from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, as well as Tweedledee, Tweedledum and the Red Queen from the story's sequel Through the Looking-Glass. *While running from the Collectors, Will splits up from Alice with the promise to meet her at "Tulgey", a reference to a stanza from the novel Through the Looking-Glass, where the Jabberwock "Came whiffling through the tulgey wood". *On the Red Queen's orders, Will is sentenced to be executed via beheading and is put on the chopping block, a reference to the way the Queen of Hearts repeatedly calls for the beheading of those who displease her in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. The crowd shouts "Off with his head", a reference to the Queen of Hearts iconic lines from the novel. *In Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, the executioner serves the Queen of Hearts. In this version, he serves the Red Queen. *The Red Queen sits in her throne room, playing chess all by herself,File:W104PlayingChess.png a reference to the novel Through the Looking-Glass, where chess is the most important theme of the story. Popular Culture *Cyrus breaks a wishboneFile:W104Broken.png and says that people believe that when you break them the one who has the larger half gets a wish, a reference to the American tradition of breaking the wishbone of a turkey during Thanksgiving. |-|Set Notes= Props Notes *One of the pages in the Genie wisdom bookFile:W104Genies.png File:W104OpenPage.png contains an illustration from Heptameron, or Magical Elements (1496), a grimoire by the thirteenth century Italian philosopher Pietro d'Abano. It is "The figure of a Circle for the first hour of the Lords day, in Spring-time". **Another pageFile:W104SoDifficult.png contains a table filled with symbols from a page in Key of Solomon, an old grimoire incorrectly attributed to King Solomon. This particular page is from one of the earliest manuscript of the grimoire, entitled The Clavicle of Solomon, revealed by Ptolomy the Grecian, dated 1572. (The three symbols used in the book can be seen in the lower right hand corner of the grimoire page.) Set Dressing *The serpent decorations in Amara's houseFile:W104No2.png File:W104No3.png File:W104No4.png are a reference to her being "reborn" after drinking the magical water from the Well of Wonders. *The statues in the Wonderland maze are shaped like enormous chess pieces,File:W104Escaping3.png File:W104WorseThingsThanDeath2.png a reference to the novel Through the Looking-Glass, where chess is the most important theme of the story. Costumes Notes *A part of Lizard's attire bares resemblance to lizard skin;File:W104InTheRightPlace.png a reference to her nickname. |-|Goofs= Goofs *In the wide shot of the crowd preparing for Will's execution at the Wonderland castle, Alice and Lizard can be seen at the back of the crowd.File:W104LookingAround2.png In the wide shot of the watermelon flying in the air, the pair have disappeared,File:W104Launching.png before reappearing in the following shot.File:W104Watching3.png *During Will's execution, Jafar, the Red Queen, Tweedledee and Tweedledum can be seen looking down to the execution stage.File:W104LookingAtPeasants3.png File:W104LiftingAx.png However, during certain angles in the same scene, the four of them have disappeared.File:W104FightingOffGuards.png File:W104Surprise.png |-|Other Notes= Filming Locations *The set used for the interior of the Blacksmith's workshopFile:W104Blacksmith.png is a redressed version of Farzeen Shahmed's shop from "Trust Me".File:W102Snack.png The same set doubles as the interior of Ulima's house for the episode "Bad Blood".File:W107InsideTheHouse.png The easiest way to spot this is the doorway, which has the same unique shape in all three locations. *Burnaby's Central Park doubles as Wonderland for the scene where Alice and Will are running from the Collectors and the scene where the Red Queen captures Will. Parts of the episode was filmed on a closed set in the park, before the production moved to a more public path in the evening for exterior scenes. *Some scenes were filmed at the North Shore Studios, due to the Neverland sets at The Bridge Studios, the studio used to film Once Upon a Time, taking up too much space. International Titles Videos W1x04 - The Serpent - Promo W1x04 - The Serpent - Sneak Peek References }} ---- de:The Serpent nl:The Serpent ru:Змея